Apparatus for use in shoemaking



Sept. 30, 1941. F. RlcKs E-r AL 2,257,275

APPARATUS FOR UASE IN SHOEMAKING AFiled Nov. 3, 1939 5' ai WMA/.66%

Patented Sept. 30, 1941 APPARATUS FOR USE IN SHOEMAKING Fred Ricks and William Neil Bray, Leicester, England, assignors to United Shoe Machinery Corporation, Borough of Flemington, N. J., a corporation of New Jersey Application November 3, 1939, Serial No. 302,630 In Great Britain November 29, 1938 4 Claims.

This invention relates to apparatus for use in shoemaking and is hereinafter described in connection with an illustrative procedure whereby a shoe has its heel attached thereto by means of fastenings driven from inside the shoe into the heel while the shoe is on its last, which fastenings also serve to secure in place relatively to the other shoe bottom parts the heelward end portion of a metallic shank stiiiener which is incorporated in the shoe bottom.

It has recently been found desirable to increase the rigidity with which the heelward end portion of a metallic shank stiifener is held in place in the shoe by driving fastenings from inside the shoe into the heel in such locations as to insure against edgewise displacement of the shank stiffener and it is one of the objects of `the invention to provide in an improved manner for such securing in place oi a shank stiflener.`

In United States Letters Patent No. 1,679,346, granted August 7, 1928, upon application of W. R. Barclay, there is disclosed a nail driving spindle adapted to enter a bore in a last having a shoe thereon, the spindle having passages through which two nails are driven in straight parallel paths through the bottom of the shoe and into the heel. When, however, a. shoe embodies a metallic shank stiiiener which extends well into the heel-seat portion oi' the shoe (as it is commoniy desirable that it should do), it is not usu fr? ally practicable to drive two nails in the manner referred to, inasmuch as the width of the shank stiiener would ordinarily be at least of the same order as the separation between the nailsl (which separation is dependent upon the separation between the passages in the spindle and, since the spindle has to be received in a bore of relatively small diameter in the last, the restriction thus imposed on the size of the spindle correspondingly restricts the separation of the passages) and consequently it is quite likely that one or both of the nails will strike the shank stiffener and be stopped thereby.

As herein illustrated we have provided for attaching a heel to a shoe having a, metallic shank stiffener extending well into the heel-seat portion of theshoe and for securing the rear portion of the shank stiifener in place by driving two nails into the heel, from the inside of the shoe, at points on opposite sides of the shank r stiffener, while the shoe is on a last. For use in driving the nails we have provided adevice which, in accordance with one feature of the present invention, comprises a spindle adapted to be received in a bore in a last in a shoe, the

spindle having two longitudinally extending passages from which nails are driven and the passages being inclined to one another to constrain thenails to enter the work in outwardly diverging paths, and driver rods extending into the nail passages for driving the nails, the driver rods crossing one another at a point spaced from the nail passages so that the driving end of one rod is located at the opposite side of the driving end of the other rod to that at which the driven end of the first rod is located with respect to the driven end of the second rod.

The invention will be further explained with reference to the accompanying drawing, in which- Fig. 1 is a view, partially in elevation and partially in vertical section, of our improved nail driving spindle and associated parts;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the upper end of the spindle;

Figs. 3, 4, 5 and 6 are cross-sectional views taken, respectively, along the lines III-III, IXY-IV, V-V, VI-VI of Fig. 1;

Fig. 7 is a perspective view of a portion of a shoe having a heel attached thereto and a metallic shank `stiffener secured in place therein by means of two nails in accordance with the present invention; and

Fig. 8 is a cross-sectional view, on a scale corresponding to that of Fig. l, of part of the bottom and heel of the shoe shown in Fig. 7, the section being taken in a plane extending through the two heel attaching nails.

Referring to the drawing, we have shown in Fig. l a portion of a heel attaching machine comprising a nail driving spindle lll adapted for use in attaching a heel to a shoe while the shoe is on a last, such as the last indicated by dotted line at I2, the last having a bore I4 extending through its heel portion from a transversely central location in the top or crown of the last (which is lowermost in Fig. 1) to a transversely central location in the heel-seat surface of the last bottom (which is uppermost in Fig. l)

The nail driving spindle Il] and the associated parts of the heel attaching machine are similar in certain respects to corresponding parts shown and described in Patent No. 1,679,346 hereinbefore referred to, the spindle having two passages extending longitudinally thereof, in which operate two nail drivers or driver rods I5, I5; the driver rods I5, l5 are carried by a driver bar i3 into which their lower ends extend and in which they are held in place by means of a pin I 1. The bar i8 is operated by means of an actuator 2 (not shown) in the same manner as the driver rod carrying bar shown in said patent. The driver rods i5, I6 operate respectively in two passages 20, 2l in the spindle l0. The spindle i has, at its lower end portion, a cap 22 formed with a downwardly extending sleeve portion 23 fitting over the top of a hollow post 2s. Enclosing the cap 22 is a cover 26 having a plain upper surface 28 which affords a seat for the crown surface of the last l2, The spindle I0 is urged upwardly by a spring 30 housed between the under surface of the cap 22 and a washer 32 which engages a shoulder 33 in the hollow interior of the post 24. 'Associated with the hereinbefore-mentioned parts are springs 33 and 42 which serve the same purposes as the springs 33 and 42, respectively, shown in said patent, and also screws 4i! and 44 and balls 46 which correspond to the parts identied by the same reference numerals, respectively, in said patent. These parts need not be described in detail herein since reference may be made to said patent for an understanding of their functions.

Thelower portion of the spindle il) has a bore 5) therein, from which the passages 2Q, 2i extend upwardly. The passages 20, 2| are not parallel but yare inclined to one another. At the top oi the spindle I0 the passages 2U, 2| emerge through the ,side of the spindle so as to form recesses 52, 54 which are elongated lengthwise of the spindle. Between. the recesses 52, 54 and the bore 5t the passages 2Q, 2l are located entirely within the spindle. The arrangement of the passages Zii, 2i will best be appreciated from consideration of Figs. 2 to 5, inclusive. the line :co: represents the intersection with the plane of that i'igure of a given plane which 'contains the axis of the spindle. t will be seen that the axis of each passage lies at a constant distance from the line xa: in each of these iigures but that rthe passages approach each other as ythey extend downwardly until they nearly meet,

asindic-ated in Fig. 5, at the locality where they enter the bore 5).

The driver rods i5, I are flexible steel rods. The upper ends of the driver rods are received in the passages 2li, 2! and the driver rods cross one another in the locality indicated at 5t, at which locality they are in contact, or substantially so. As a result of this crossing of the driver rods the upper or driving end of one rod is located at the opposite side of the upper or driving end of the other rod to that at which the lower or driven end of the first rod is located with respect t0 the lower or driven end of the second rod. When the driver rods are in initial position, their upper ends 58, 6i) occupy the positions shown in Fig. l and the driver rods are ready to act upon nails N received within the recesses 52, 54. When the driver rods are moved upwardly to drive the nails it will be appreciated that some amount of ilexing of the portions of the rods below the passages 2i), 2! takes place, inasmuch as the lower ends of the rods are held in the bar I8 and yare constrained to move in paths diierent from the paths of movement of their upper ends. The ilexibility of the driver rods is suiiicient to allow this flexing to take place withoutV undue cramping of the rods in the passages within the spindle.

As herein exemplied the above-described apparatus is used to drive two nails into the heel from the inside of a shoe, such as the shoe shown in Figs. 7 and 8. This shoe includes a composite shoe bottom consisting of an insole, a heel and In each of these gures shank reinforcing piece substantially coextensive with the heel and shank portion of the insole, and a shank stiffener which is interposed between the insole and the reinforcing piece, such an insole unit being disclosed in United States Letters Patent No. 2,065,464, granted December 22, 1936, upon application of J. M. Whelton. Referring to Fig. 8, the nails N have to be driven into the heel H through an insole I, a reinforcing piece R and an outsole O, and the nails must extend close to the opposite sides of the shank stifener S in order to perform the desired function of retaining in place the rear or heelward end portion of the stifener. After the shoe and last have been placed on the spindle I5V (with the spindle received in the bore i4 of the last) the heel I-I is positioned on the heel seat of the shoe and the machine operated to cause clamping means (not shown) to hold the heel in place while the nails are being driven. The driver rods i5, i5 are then operated to drive the nails from the recesses 52, 5% into the work in outwardly diverging paths. It will be appreciated from an examination of Figs. l and 8 that were the nails to be driven from parallel passages located within the spindle i@ the separation of the nails would not be such that reliance could be placed on their passing one `at either side of the shank stifiener S and not striking the same. The arrangement described, however, permits the nails just to pass clear of the shank stiffener. It will be seen from Fig, 8 that the nails, in addition to their heel attaching function, serve to maintain the heel end portion of the shank stiiener against subsequent widthwise displacement, and also since the heads of the nails overlap the shank stiffener, the nails serve in some measure to resist displacement of the shank stiffener heightwise of the shoe.

During the driving of the nailsl the driver rods i5, IE5, as they pass upwardly into the recesses 52, 54 of the passages 20, 2l project somwhat outwardly from the side wall of the spindle ifi. For this reason the portion of the bore I 4 in the VVlast l2 adjacent to the recesses 52, 54 is madeof slightly larger diameter than the portion of the bore in the last between the ends of the recesses and the crown surface of the last. The latter portion of the bore, by closely embracing the spindle il), serves to locate the whole last on the spindle despite the slight clearance that exists between the spindle Aand the portion of the bore near the heel seat of the last bottom.

In order to insure that the nails will be retained in proper positions in the recesses t4 prior to driving, the upper end portion 0f the spindle i() is magnetized so that the nails (which are ordinarily of steel) will, when inserted in proper position in the recesses, cling to the spindle and retain their correct location.

It will be appreciated that the correct relative positioning of the shank stiffener and the nails (in a direction widthwise of the shank stitfener) is dependent upon the shank stiener being located on the shoe bottom in proper relationship with respect to the bore in the last from which bore the nails are driven. In order to insure that the heelward end portion of the shank stiiiener be located in a central position width- Wise of the composite shoe bottom unit, it is convenient to assemble the stifener with the other parts of the unit in an `assembling machine such as that described in United States Letters Pattent No. 2,151,974, granted March 28, 1939, upon application of F. Kennison et al., which machine is provided with a gaging means eiective to engage the heelward end portion of the shank stiffener and insure that this end portion, as Well as the forward end portion, will be accurately located centrally Widthwise of the unit.

It is clearly also of importance, in order that the nails shall be driven from the spindle In in correct positional relationship with respect to the heel-seat portion of the shank stiiener S (which has been located as aforesaid), that the bore in the last should emerge at the heel-seat portion of the last bottom in a position accurately centralized widthwise of the last bottom. As hereinbefore mentioned, considerable variations have frequently occurred hitherto in the positions of emergence of such holes in lasts. To avoid such undesirable inconsistencies which would result in irregularities in the positions `in which the nails Would be driven, it is desirable to provide for the forming of the bore in the last so that it will emerge in a location accurately centralized widthwise of the heel-seat portion of the last bottom, After a bore has been formed through the last as just described, the portion of the bore near the heel-seat portion of the last bottom may be cut to a slightly larger diameter than the remainder of the bore for the purpose hereinbefore described.

Having described our invention, what we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. A nailing device comprising a spindle adapted to be received in a bore in a last in a shoe, said spindle having two longitudinally eX- tending passages from which nails are driven and said passages being inclined to one another to constrain the nails to enter the work in outwardly dii/erging paths, and driver rods extending into said passages for driving the nails, said driver rods crossing one another at a point spaced from said passages so that the driving end of one rod is located at the opposite side of the driving end of the other rod to that at which the driven end of the rlrst rod is located with respect to the driven end of the second rod.

2. A nailing device comprising a spindle adapted to be received in a bore in a last in a shoe, said spindle having two longitudinally eX- tending passages from which nails are driven and said passages being inclined to one another to constrain the nails to enter the Work in outwardly diverging paths, and driver rods extending into said passages for driving the nails, said driver rods crossing one another at a point spaced from said passages so that the driving end of one rod is located at the opposite side of the driving end of the other rod to that at which the driven end of the rst rod is located with respect to the driven end of the second rod, and said rods being made of iiexible material whereby they are enabled to bend at the point where they cross one another as they are being operated to drive the nails.

3. A nailing device comprising a spindle adapted to be received in a bore in a last in a shoe, said spindle having two longitudinally extending passages from which nails are driven, said passages diverging toward the free end of the spindle and emerging through the side of the spindle thereby forming recesses elongated lengthwise of the spindle for receiving the nails, and a portion of said spindle adjacent to said recesses being magnetized to assist in the retention of the nails within said recesses, and driver rods extending into said passages for driving the nails.

4. A nail driving device for use in driving two nails through a bore in a last and through the bottom of a shoe on the last at opposite sides of the rear portion of a shank stiffener centrally disposed widthwise of the shoe bottom and into a heel on the shoe, said bore extending heightwise through the heel portion of the' last and emerging in a transversely central location in the heel-seat surface of the last bottom and being of such restricted cross-sectional dimension that the nails could not be driven in straight parallel paths with reliance that the separation of the nails would be sufficiently great compared to the Width of the shank stiiener to insure the nails passing one at each side of the shank stiiener without striking the stiffener, said device comprising a spindle adapted to it within said bore and having two nail driving passages so disposed that nails driven therethrough will enter the shoe bottom in divergent paths whereby they will be spread suiliciently to clear the shank stiirener, and drivers operable` in said passages for driving the nails, said passages emerging through the side of said spindle thereby forming recesses elongated lengthwise of the spindle for receiving the nails.

FRED RICKS.

WILLIAM NEIL BRAY. 

